Is my boat a Dory?

[Charlaine White]

I have just become the owner of my first sailboat. I rescued it from a storage yard where it had been abandoned. As strange as this may sound, I'm not sure what the heck the poor little girl is. The pink slip indicates "dorrisls" and there's little else to tell me. She is a 15' open cockpit sloop rig, centerboarder, very beamy, built in 1961. I have been searching the Internet for information on dorys, but this site is the warmest I have gotten. I see from the info on the site that CDs were not built until 1963, but I thought I'd give this a try. Are there other boats called dorys that were not built by Cape Dory? I'd appreciate any advice/direction you experts could offer. Thanks in advance!



cwhite@hmlsw.com

[Mike Everett]

Interesting question.
You didn't mention the construction material of your boat, but I assume it's fiberglass.
The dory is a type of boat -- high sided, flat-bottomed, usually narrow, usually lapstraked -- originally used as a fisherman's working craft. There are many local variants, such as Lunenburg dories, Swampscott dories, Gloucester dories, and so on. With daggerboards and rudders, they make great sailboats.
A real wood dory is a beautiful boat, and many traditional boat shops and schools make them.
I don't know how the Cape Dory corporation got its name (info could be somewhere on this web site) but most, if not all, Cape Dories aren't dories at all. It's a nice name, though.
A web search will uncover some current manufacturers. One is called C-Dory, maker of a nice-looking motorized, covered fiberglass (I suppose) dory. Another is Lunenburg Dory, maker of the traditional wood craft. I'm sure there are plenty of others.
So your boat may be a



everett@megalink.net

[Tom Coons]

I have just become the owner of my first sailboat. I rescued it from a storage yard where it had been abandoned. As strange as this may sound, I'm not sure what the heck the poor little girl is. The pink slip indicates "dorrisls" and there's little else to tell me. She is a 15' open cockpit sloop rig, centerboarder, very beamy, built in 1961. I have been searching the Internet for information on dorys, but this site is the warmest I have gotten. I see from the info on the site that CDs were not built until 1963, but I thought I'd give this a try. Are there other boats called dorys that were not built by Cape Dory? I'd appreciate any advice/direction you experts could offer. Thanks in advance!

Charlaine: There is a little book called "Boatwatch" by Max Wade Averitt published by Charles Scribner's Sons that tries to list and illustrate every boat ever built. I looked in my 1979 copy for you but didn't see anything under the name you gave. You might browse through a copy at your local boat store or at the library and see if you recognize your boat. I was sailing small boats in the 1960s and don't remember any boat by that name. It may be regional or could be a home built one of a kind. You may be able to find a hull number stamped somewhere (often on the transom or keel) or see if the sail has a number on it. Many of the small class boats were numbered in order on the sail. It doesn't sound like a Cape Dory as the typhoon was their first and it is 19 ft. Also you might take a snapshot of it and then ask local old timers if they recognize it. Good luck!



TacCambria@thegrid.net